


Mirage

by ALannister



Category: Mahabharata - Vyasa
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 11:26:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3976345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALannister/pseuds/ALannister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The shattering of a long held belief is always a turning point in a person's life. Where will Amba's shattered illusions lead her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

As the first birds rose & started chirping by her window Princess Amba woke up. She had barely managed to get any sleep last night. Long into the night her sisters & she had sat talking about their upcoming swayamvar in excited whispers. Ambika & Ambalika were anxious to know who all would be in attendance. Ambika had managed to bribe a maid with a beautiful bracelet for all the latest news about the swayamvar. Amba had sat quietly with them participating in their excitement but feeling none of their anxiety. Because without needing to bribe a maid she already knew the man who had stolen her heart had arrived in the city. Why would she need a maid when she had her heart to guide her.

She pulled a shawl around her & walked up to the window. The sky had turned a beautiful soft colour of pink. The day of the swayamvar had finally arrived. The moon was still visible in the early morning sky. This was the last morning she would be spending in this room. Come tomorrow she would be far away. Her future, as sure as the waxing & waning of the moon, was set before her.

A maid entered & quietly drew her a bath. Today the Princess would bathe first in milk & then in sandal scented waters with a generous portion of rose petals. The maid helped the Princess wash her long tresses, the warm water & scent of sandalwood relaxing Amba. 

After a long soak Amba finally got up & covering herself walked up to the mirror admiring her reflection. Some of them called her vain. She studied the dusky skinned beauty looking back at her from the mirror. With eyes like a doe & her long straight her hair falling up to her waist in thick waves she was no less beautiful than an Apsara. If she was vain, she had every reason to be. 

More maids came along bringing with them the royal jewels. They helped Amba dress up in the finest clothes in Kashi. Another maid came in to braid her hair & arrange it beautifully in a bun on the top of her head. Finally her every limb was covered in jewels & precious stones. Rubies sparkled around her throat & waist while a beautiful diamond rested on her nose. Gold glittered at her wrists & ankles. 

As the conch shells sounded the beginning of the auspicious time for the swayamvar, for the first time Amba felt a punch of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. She was soon joined by her sisters who too would be choosing a husband for themselves today. Leading her younger sisters Amba quickened her pace. She felt an intense need to see Shalva. Only when she had assured herself that her Prince had arrived would she be able to quell her anxiety.

As she arrived in the Hall where the swayamvar would take place her eyes scanned the Princes & Kings who had come to the ceremony. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Shalva sitting there amongst the other Kings just as he had promised. He nodded slightly in her direction & she blushed red hoping no one had seen this little exchange between them. 

After praying to the Gods the swayamvar began. A maid brought her a garland of roses. The maid introduced each King to Amba as she passed through the Hall with the garland in her hand. She didn’t listen to any of it. She had already chosen her husband. And very soon she would garland him.

While she was lost in her thoughts the maid had stopped talking. The entire Hall had grown still. Had she stood before this man too long? She quickly took a step forward so the maid could introduce her to the next King & then the next till finally Shalva’s turn came. But the maid remained silent. Instead a man roared somewhere. The roar roused Amba from her day dreams. 

A man dressed completely in white stood near the doors of the Hall. He was armed & looked extremely angry about something. She took a step back as he moved forward like a whirlwind.

Amba noticed that the guards had not stopped him. Insulting her father this man had barged in. And instead of apologizing he stood there blaming her father for not inviting the Prince of Hastinapur. Someone somewhere snickered. Whispers broke out throughout the Hall. 

“Had the Kashi princesses’s beauty finally made Bhishma lay aside his vows?”

Amba looked desperately at her father & then at Shalva. Both looked furious. 

As she stood there frightened by the sudden arrival of a warrior like Devvratt Bhishma she registered he was speaking something. He talked of insults to the Kurus, of his brother Vichitravirya, of coming to take the Princesses for his brother. Surely he could not mean that. How could a man just barge in & abduct not one but three princesses? No one would allow that! Not her father! And definitely not Shalva! She was surrounded today by the finest warriors in Aryavarrta. They wouldn’t allow Bhishma to insult her in this manner. But she saw in horror as Bhishma advanced towards her sisters. And then he turned towards her. She wanted to scream but the aggressive stance of the man silenced her. She waited for her father to come to her rescue. Where was Shalva? How could he allow this to happen to her?

The garland of roses fell at Devvratt’s feet as he marched the three Princesses out to his waiting chariot. She looked at her sisters for support but they were as stunned as she was. Like cattle they were being herded into a chariot by this man. 

As the chariot caught speed she saw a speck in the distance. Hope rose in her as she saw another chariot come thundering towards them. Shalva stood in it in his armour. Her heart filled with pride as her handsome King challenged this brute. At least someone had stood up for her. She watched with bated breath for Shalva to win. But nothing that day seemed to be going the right way.

She watched all her hopes crash as Shalva took arrow after arrow from Devvratt Bhishma whose skill was unmatched. She had heard many stories about this son of Ganga but she had assumed most of them to be exaggerations. But with each arrow that hurt her beloved she understood the gravity of her situation. There would be no one saving her today she realized even before Shalva fell to the ground injured. 

Bhishma returned to the chariot & ordered the charioteer to drive on. As Amba watched with eyes brimming with tears she saw her hopes & dreams scatter away in the dust raised by the chariot wheels. The dust seemed to literally settle on her past as the dust clouds surrounded Shalva & he was completely lost to her eyes. In between she saw the man lying there defeated, trying to get up. As the distances between them increased he seemed like a mirage to her now. Was anyone truly there, fighting to stand up? Or was it just a figment of her imagination? She stared till even the mirage disappeared & she was surrounded by the reality of the man that was beside her driving her to a new future.


	2. Chapter 2

Amba would remember the next few days for years to come. Maybe they would haunt her in her next births too.

Amba remembered breaking down into sobs on reaching Hastinapur. While her sisters were awed by the grandeur of the palace of Hastinapur all she saw was a golden cage. Her distress was lost on her sisters who were busy wining & dining with the King. But Devvratt Bhishma & the Queen Mother sensed something was amiss & questioned her that night. She remained stubbornly silent while Bhishma stood there. She refused to narrate her plight to this man who had abuducted her against her will. But no sooner did the door close behind him than she broke down into sobs. She told the Queen Mother her side of the story. Consoling her in calm, soothing words Satyawati walked out of her room.

She must have talked to Devvratt then because Amba remembered being in Devvratt’s chariot once again as it thundered towards a future she feared she had lost. She remembered feeling hopeful. And she had even been a little happy then. She had almost forgiven Devvratt too. But her happiness turned to ashes in her mouth as Shalva refused to accept her. She reminded him of their love but all he remembered was his insult. Being defeated at the hands of Bhishma had set fire to the love which he had bore for her. How weak Shalva had appeared to her then. Had she really expected this man to save her? She remembered him lying their defeated & insulted in the dust. She had loved him even then. But she felt her love shrivel up inside her now. Instead of being ashamed of not being able to save her from being abducted, he was ashamed of having lost to Bhishma. 

She remembered thinking of him as a mirage when she was being driven to Hastinapur. She had been wrong. The man had been real enough. Only his love for her had been a true mirage.


	3. Chapter 3

With an injured pride & her insults as her only companions Amba left Shalva’s palace. She didn’t try to convince him to accept her. She didn’t try to win his love back. A woman could never love a man she didn’t respect & Shalva had lost her respect when he put his defeat before his love for her. She was the crown Princess of Kashi. She would never beg!

Seeking shelter under a huge Banyan Amba, a Princess sat motionless thinking about her future. It wasn’t supposed to have ended this way. She should have been a newly wedded woman now, a wife, a Queen. She should have been with Shalva now. What was she doing here sitting like some ordinary beggar. She could not go back to her father. She no longer would feel safe there. Shalva had at least put up a fight. Her father had just stood & fumed & stared. He hadn’t raised so much as a finger to stop Devvratt. With her younger sisters married off how could she return to Kashi, single & abandoned? How could she ever face the people of Kashi? 

She was suddenly overcome by tiredness. As she closed her eyes the events of the past few days passed before her eyes. Desperation filled up in her everytime she saw the man dressed all in white. Carrying her away. What had the maids said about the man? Born Devvratt. Ganga’s son. A skilled archer. Student of the famed Parshuram. An honourable man. But a man sworn to celibacy.

What was a vow when compared to a woman’s honour? Especially the woman who had been dishonoured because of him. Surely a man as honourable as Devvratt would understand her position. He wasn’t just famous for his skills on the battle field. He was also known for his sense of justice & honour. Surely he would understand her plight & shelter her from all the insults which would surely be hers if he did not rise to the occasion. 

Filled with renewed determination & hope Amba rose & wiped away her unshed tears. From where she stood, the doors to Shalva & Kashi had been slammed shut in her face. There was only one place she could go to now. Hastinapur.

She didn’t remember how many days it took her to reach Hastinapur. A day? Or maybe it was a week? Tired to the soul Amba was greeted by a city in delight. Some sort of a celebration seemed to be in progress. Clothes reduced to rags Amba entered the Palace. She had a difficult time convincng the guards that she was a Princess but she was finally let in when a Brahmin identified her. She stood in the doorway of the throne room watching the King & the ministers joke & laugh about things. She saw Ambika & Ambalika smiling about something while the Queen Mother looked on approvingly. Every person in Hastinapur was happy today. Her eyes finally found the man she had come looking for.

As if sensing her standing there Devvratt turned. She noted first the confusion, then the surprise & then finally the recognition strike him. He stood up hastily. The throne room started falling silent as each minister turned to see who Bhishma was staring at. Amba took a tentative step towards him. An ordinary woman would have fallen at his feet. But she wasn’t here to beg for anything. She was here to get what was hers by right. Her honour. Which was lying at Devvratt’s feet like her rose garland which had fallen at fallen at his feet. She was here to ensure that he returned her her honour & proved that he was more than just a legend. 

Devvratt in the throne room was more like a King than the actual King could ever dream to be. Amba almost forgot to bow down to the King as she walked towards Devvratt, head held high. She narrated her woes to him leaving nothing to herself this time. And she waited for him to accept his mistake & then accept her. She was willing to forgive him. After all even the God’s could do a wrong thing. And he was just a man. 

But her forgiveness was thrown in her face as she watched the man famed to be the most honourable man in Hastinapur refuse to have anything to do with her. She stood numbly as she watched him pass her on to his wimp of a brother. Revulsion filled her at the idea of marrying the King. To add insult to injury, it was the King who rejected her & washed his hands off her. Once again she was tossed away like an inanimate object. The ministers argued over the sudden case presented before them. Every single coward in the court room swore that Devvratt had done no wrong & he owed her nothing. While Devvraatt himself stood there, staring into the distance, completely ignoring her.

They said Hastinapur was home to some of the best men in Aryawarta. Brave men, learned men, scholars from all walks of life were present in Hastinapur. She realized how a big a lie it was in that one moment. There was no honour here. All she saw was a man so self centred that a woman’s honour meant nothing to him. All she saw were the best warriors & scholars in the country supporting the same man. He had managed to fool the entire Aryawarta but the real man stood before her today. Her final misconception was shattered. He wouldn’t be the one rescuing her. She would have to rescue herself. The biggest mirage was this man in white.


End file.
